Who goes there? (CaptainVertigo)
April's track of the month follows an evidently smitten CaptainVertigo into the wilds of Donegal, and the less feted central summits of the classic Glover Highlander walk, the Aghlas. While this is described in his usual excellent prose and studded with his standard clearly annotated photos, this track is being featured to illustrate that the walker is strongly advised to prioritise the evidence of their own eyes when deciding whether access from a particular location is possible: the here and now always has an advantage over guide books in that regard.

Note: As you may know, we recently started improving our shared track display. This is not finished by a long shot, however below shows how you can incorporate photos into a shared track.

CaptainVertigo on Exquisite Aghlas

Main walk Start: 06:48, End: 10:38, Duration: 3h50m, Length: 9.6km,Ascent: 707m, Descent: 708mPlaces: Start at B93560 25682, Aghla Beg, Aghla Beg (South), Aghla More, end at Start (statistics such as Ascent or Length etc should be regarded as approximate. Duration depends on the speed of the person making the track)

The AghlasThe Aghlas are right up there with our very best. From these peaks you get to view some of the most amazing scenery in the country, if not the world. Donegal is so staggeringly underrated. How is that possible? How has the secret been so carefully kept? The Donegal native speaks softly and musically. He does not boast. She is not proud. Yet they have much to be proud of, and could boast without fear of contradiction. And in north Donegal you have this trio of conical peaks with lakes above and below, nestled among lines and lines of noble mountains, looking down on the great ocean:sublimely, superlatively, stunningly beautiful. What a riot of images. I am breathless.

Left - Aghla Beg Right- Aghla South Top Camera under Aghla Mor

Getting ThereThe hard work is getting onto the platform that hosts the three peaks. Once that is done the hop from summit to summit is easy enough. So you get a big reward for your early effort. I am satisfied that I was wrong to attempt to begin my journey from the west. You will see that I parked my car at Procklis and headed north, over the bridge, and then turned to face Aghla Beg. I got permission to go through a farm at 7am simply because the farmer was up working and let me in, although he made it clear he was making an exception for me.. When I came down, and crossed the river at the head of the lake, I was surrounded by Private Property signs and felt mortally embarassed to be crossing a working farm. My advice: ascend from the south east.

NORTH: Pleasant views for minimum effort
The rolling countryside to the west of the Sperrins makes for pleasant views from the summit of the easily climbed Balix Hill.
Aidy on Balix Hill: Pleasant Views For Minimum Effort
Started from H48539 95495, parking in front of an abandoned farm house. Crossing a gate beside the house, it was just a case of bearing almost directly northwest up a grassy field, then over rougher, heather covered ground, to the summit. An easy walk, with the only difficulty being getting over a few awkward fences. Not the most dramatic of tops, but pleasant enough views around the Sperrins, ... Click here

NORTH: The journey brings its own reward.
So says an old Chinese proverb, and so it proved for Aidy on his ascent up Spaltindoagh in the Sperrins, with wonderful views on the way up.
Aidy on Spaltindoagh: Good Views But Great Views Getting There
Took almost exactly the same route as sandman for a quick, easy walk. The best of the views from the summit are to the south, with the Glenelly Valley being hidden, and only the tops of the higher Sperrins appearing above the forestry to the north. It would have been worth coming here alone for the drive along the southern side of the Glenelly Valley, the road climbing high above it and providin ... Click here

WEST: The lesser-spotted hills of Connemara
Paddyhillsbagger ascends a couple of smallish hills you’ve probably passed on the road to Oughterard, namely Newtown and Leam hill, both with panoramic views.
paddyhillsbagger on Newtown Hill, (Cnoc an Bhaile Nua): Small top, big views.
I started from the North at M17631 34375. Asked a local farmer who informed me hill was commonage and named Oldtown Hill. No problem with access but wet underfoot. Lovely sweeping views of Lough Corrib, Galway Bay and the Burren beyond. Click here

WEST: Maam Turk Force
If you accidentally/on-purpose go the wrong way from the start of the Maam Turks walk you could find yourself following in the footsteps of ColinCallahan on his track over Lackavrea. Chances are you’ll discover that even the smaller hills hereabouts are a bit of an assault course, although his photographs do emphasise the scenic compensations to be had. It’s a half-day itinerary that doesn’t logically link to anything else, but other objectives around here are legion.
ColinCallanan on Lackavrea circuit
This was quite a nice little curcuit, and is a variation on a route described by Paul Phelan in his wonderful "Conn| walk, Len: 6.9km, Climb: 385m, Area: Lackavrea, Maamturks (Ireland) Lackavrea Click here

WEST: Quarry gouged into fine hill.
Gortrumnagh in the Twelve Bens is a splendid little hill, or would be were it not for the ugly quarry one must circumnavigate to reach the top, says paddyhillsbagger.
paddyhillsbagger on Gortrumnagh: A better way?
I parked at L61729 51734 and walked up muddy path to climb steep slope to the spine of Gortrumnagh. Trig visible in distance so proceeded towards it only to find a quarry has ripped out a large section! Made my way around the obstacle to reach summit and wonderful views. But there has to be a better way to the top! Click here

WEST: Faha Ridge - Life on a Knife Edge.
This report illustrates the Faha Ridge which joins the main Brandon ridge from the east. It is one of the exciting and dangerous ridges in Ireland. This report shows it in all of its glory. We hope to have an article comparing routes on the Faha ridge in the next issue.
Onzy on Faha Ridge Circuit
Route over Faha Ridge, making a detour to Brandon itself, before heading north and down the Dingle Way.Crux of the route| walk, Len: 15.8km, Climb: 1104m, Area: Benagh, Brandon Group (Ireland) Benagh Click here

Featured summit comment

Quiet places, slowly being 'discovered'
Croaghavehy in NW Donegal at 372m won't ever be ranked as one of the great mountains of Ireland. But, just as it visited only occasionally it will never attract crowds and litter and will probably be a wild place for many years. It forms part of the great reservoir of smaller but wild places that constitute so much of the uplands of Ireland. MountainViews is glad to describe these places for their afficionados, just as we are glad to describe multiple routes up the more popular places.

And we are glad of members such as sandman and others who visit such places and describe them. There are still quite a few (63) that have never been described and we are always glad of information on them. As well as mountain comments and summaries, we also want to improve our grid references for them, to have more photos and to have shared GPS routes.

What a Difference.sandman

What a difference, two years ago this hill was the 900th highest on the MV list but now is outside the top 1000th. Parking in the Glengesh viewpoint G6882085959 and walking back up to where the fence runs uphill this will take you up quickly to the summit area. You can return by way of ascent or choose as I did to continue on to Glengesh Hill.
SOUTH: Peak badger
Bryanmccabe makes a rare 590m altitude, daytime acquaintance with a badger on Knockowen in the Cahas and wonders if badgers often dwell at such heights.
This title wins the award for funniest title of the month. FTOTM
bryanmccabe on Knockowen, (Cnoc Eoghain): Peak-badger
It's not that common to see a badger moving in the open during the day. Today, a badger crossed about 20m in front of us at a height of 590m on the approach to Knockowen from the east. A question to anyone with knowledge of these animals - is it unusual for a badger to venture to this altitude? What might have attracted it so high on Knockowen?
Of course we should not overlook the obvious - per ... Click here

SOUTH: (Slievena)Muck and Brass
'If you're looking for a long distance walk on forest track, road and through a field or two, then this might appeal to you.' And if indeed there is a market for this then GSheehy has catered to it, having uploaded a track of his preparations for the Slievenamuck marathon...this may well be the longest track on MountainViews that almost-but-not-quite reaches a summit. This sort of route is handy for those who are properly getting ready for a challenge walk...after all, there's no point worrying about the ascent if you can't get the distance in the first place. (Congratulations to Micheal McSweeney, who won the actual race in 3hrs 39mins...not bad for a course with nearly 1000m of climbing.
GSheehy on Slievenamuck Marathon (and Half Marathon)
If you're looking for a long distance walk on forest track, road and through a field or two, then this might appeal to y| walk, Len: 41.6km, Climb: 971m, Area: Galty Mountains (Ireland) Click here

SOUTH: A corrected summit position
One of the many summits in the spectacular Brandon ridge, the north top has been re-surveyed to correct the erroneous OS map position.
group on Brandon North Top: A corrected summit position
The most scenic route to the summit of Brandon North, the Pilgrim's path, starts at the carpark under the Faha Grotto( Q493 119) on the hillside overlooking Cloghane. There is room for 8-10 cars.
Walk up the clear path past the grotto and on until you cross over a wire fence. At this point you will be near the crest of the ridge. Continue on the well marked lower path which will lead you around ... Click here

SOUTH-WEST: Brandon of the blessed and the blisters
Last month your track reviewer found himself the recipient of incredible generosity from his long-suffering other half when she ordered me to go off for a few days' hillwalking by myself. Such opportunities don't come along very often and I felt suitably obliged to try my damnedest to get as much done as possible. Hence this track, which was my solution to how to do everything in the Brandon range that I'd not done before in one walk. Others with transport could extend this over An Scraig to the Connor Pass, or maybe repeat my route but without 10km of road walking at the end, and those after a less protracted experience could cut the route short by coming down the Pilgrim's Path to Faha...it's tough to go far wrong on this side of Brandon.
Peter Walker on Brandon north to south...come on pilgrim
My previous visits to Brandon have been somewhat fixated on the Pilgrimâ€™s Path and the Faha Ridge, so when it came to | walk, Len: 29.9km, Climb: 1526m, Area: Faill an tSáis, Brandon Group (Ireland) Click here

EAST: An easy Arderin Beg to bag
Kanturk in Wicklow is a simple, short climb from the Glenmacnass car park, and usually bagged on the way to Scarr, says Kennyj.
Kennyj on Kanturk, (Brown Mountain): On the way to Scarr
Took in Kanturk on the way to Scarr today,parked at Glenmacnass car park above the falls and followed good track straight across the road heading East,this track crosses another wider track heading SE which will take you up onto Kanturk and on up to Scarr itself.Easy climb,not too wet underfoot with super views once you get up onto Scarr.Returned the way we came to thankfully find the car intact n ... Click here

EAST: ‘Hello Hello Hello…Is that Captain Vertigo?’
Meanwhile in Wicklow the good CaptainVertigo has continued his mission to find as many Irish hills with large arrows and what looks like 36 point Bookman font printed on them, while continuing to laudably admit to this and other quirks. As ever his Arderin-bagging mission uses both cunning and the minimum of effort; why walk over the top of a previously climbed summit (Tonelagee) to get to an as-yet unvisited one (Stoney Top) when you can walk around the side? All jesting aside not many of us can make as good a use of limited spare time as he can, and for the less single-minded his track could obviously be adapted to visit Tonelagee and the other summits nearby.
CaptainVertigo on Stoney Top without Tonelagee
Approaching Stoney Top from the north western slopes of TonelageeMay Suit Arderin BeggarsThis route is certainly not for| walk, Len: 5.8km, Climb: 277m, Area: Stoney Top, Dublin/Wicklow (Ireland) Sto Click here

EAST: A little history on the way to the top.
Carrickbyrne Hill in Wexford features an interesting 1798 rebel camp on the relatively easy way to the summit, says Pepe.
Pepe on Carrickbyrne Hill, (Carraig Bhrain): Leave the Machete at Home
Met a local lady out walking her dog. She showed me an easy way up uncluttered by foliage. Park in the upper carpark and follow the forest trail off to the right. Ignore all small trails leading up left off this until you see the signpost for '98 Rebel Camp'. Turn left here. You will soon come to a fork in this path as it wends its way up and west off the main forestry trail. Veer right and arrive ... Click here

EAST: A local amenity
Thanks to a pleasant forest trail developed by the local community, access is easy to the diminutive Kilmichael Hill to the NW of Gorey, says sandman.
sandman on Kilmichael Hill: A Local Amenity.
Ever since the inclusion of the new summits on Mountain Views it is nice to arrive at summits where permission for access is not required and at Kilmichael this is due to the endevour of the local community in developing a forestry walk. Parking at the church above Hollyfort continue uphill to the fifth house on right and opposite its gate is an open gap into a narrow but mature forest (T110746417 ... Click here

MIDLANDS: Unappreciated diversity
So says bryanmccabe of County Westmeath, and takes in some fine views of that diversity from the top of The Hill of Moat, or more correctly…The Hill of Mael.
bryanmccabe on The Hill of Moat: Westmeath's unappreciated diversity
I quote from a report (1972) by Roger Goodwillie of An Foras Forbartha (the link to the PDF is provided at the end of this comment): "Westmeath is one of the more diverse counties in the midlands. A look at the geological map might lead one to suppose that the monotonous sheets of Carboniferous limestone are reflected by a similar monotony in the flora and fauna, but in fact the combination of sha ... Click here

WALES: The Cairns of Princes
Devotees of walking in Snowdonia in north Wales will know that the higher mountains are divided into three distinct groups: Snowdon itself with its crowds and drama, the shattered detritus of thee Glyders, and most extensively (but most unfashionably) the Carneddau, a group of hills with more land over 3000ft than the rest of England and Wales put together. Easy grassy ridges are the order of the day here, and Onzy has done a south to north route which recovers from a horrifyingly steep start to stride out over all the 900m tops in the group and end with a lovely wooded descent towards the coast.
Onzy on Snowdonia: Carneddau Traverse
Route from Ogwen Valley to Abergwyngregyn taking in the entire main ridge of the Carneddau and including 7 of the 16 Wel| walk, Len: 21.0km, Climb: 948m, Area: Pen yr Ole Wen, Snowdonia (Britain) Pen Click here

Sorry if we didn't mention what you posted .. there's a list of all contributors for the month later.

Best humble pie story of the year so far. A leading member essentially got stuck in hole and was rescued by some unexpected helpers.There's a dark comic streak also.

CaptainVertigo on A Lesson Beneath Muckish
On St. Patrick's Day 2016, I was once again reminded of the frailty of my aging headpiece.
This time the location was a boreen which lay beneath Muckish, the towering table mountain of north Donegal. I had departed the Errigal Youth Hostel at dawn (yes, they take a liberal view of "youth" there). I had gone up and down the magnificent Aghlas from the west with considerable efficiency, and as ... Click here

By now the Peaks mountaineering club should have held the beautiful Knockmealdowns. If we get a report on this we will publish it.

Sat 16th April will have the Maumturks Challenge, now on its 41st occasion as a public walk. [I remember all too well the first occasion in 1975]
Looking forward to seeing how the respective Hillwalking Clubs continue to build on their own successes of great Challenge Walks that take us to the furthest reaches of our fair isle . . . be sure to support a local Challenge Walk near you!

-- Simon Stewart, standing in for the redoubtable Jim Holmes this month.

Many people mainly use MountainViews to get ideas for walks from our shared gps tracks. We have improved our way of doing this following suggestions from various interested parties, including some who are not regular users.

Suppose you are using MountainViews and you would like to see what shared tracks there are in a particular area perhaps as hints for your own walk.
First, navigate so that your area of interest is displayed in the Detail map.
Look at the new "Find Suggested Walks" section. Click on the button as shown in the picture.
Then a list of tracks on the detail map now appear.
You can further refine this by clicking on a button for type of walk. The diagram shows "Moderate" suggested. And the list below is for Moderate tracks in the area of Mweelrea. You can click more than one type.

You can then click on any of the links to tracks which therefore form suggestions for your walks. These are arranged in descending order of relevance to the types requested.

After you have clicked one, it should appear in the detail map. (Occasionally they are hard to see if they are near the edge of the map). Any user comments about the track will also appear.
Hopefully you will find a general route of interest to you from which you can construct your own route. MountainViews however is a work in progress - feel free to share further tracks when you find omissions.

GPS Note: It is possible to download the exact track for use by a GPS unit. We only recommend this if you are satisfied about the suitability of the shared track for your proposed expedition.

Let's emphasise that this list shows what members have shared through this website. Hopefully the route is reasonable and any comments with it are accurate, however this is not guaranteed. It is up to you to ensure that your route is appropriate for you and your party to follow bearing in mind all factors such as safety, weather conditions, experience and access permission. If you have reason to believe that any track (or indeed any other information) on MountainViews.ie is unsafe or goes against known landowner wishes or is unfit in any way, let us know.

As always with new features, do point out bugs or possible improvements.

Interested in volunteering?

If you have been using the website for a while you will realise that most of the data on it has been voluntarily donated. If you would like to help, then there's many ways. Better comments and photos are always in demand. If you have a GPS then improved summit positions and shared GPS tracks are very welcome.

If you have particular skills in writing perhaps there's plenty of places to contribute.
And then there is the technical end. A website requires a considerable number of skills to make it work from web development, hosting operation and various other forms of stewardship. Some are technical areas some aren't.

Give us a shout at admin@mountainviews.ie if you are interested in discussing some voluntary work.

SUMMITEERS CORNER
A place for those interested in Summiteering, Bagging or Highpointing.

A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits - The Vandeleur-Lynams & The Arderins
MountainViews first book available online and in some bookshops. The first reprint with numerous minor amendments is available.

simon3 on A Guide to Irelands Mountain Summits
MountainViews first book available online and in many bookshops.

As members will know, for over a decade, Mountainviews.ie has been providing unique information to hillwalkers on all aspects of exploring and enjoying Ireland's upland areas. It's been a collaborative effort by over 1000 of you, and currently contains over 6000 comments on 1057 mountains and hills on the island of Ireland ... Click here
Bulk sales to groups such as Scouts/ Guides: contact admin@mountainviews.ie for a discounted price.

The MountainViews ANNUAL, 2015

In February 2016 MountainViews was delighted to announce something new, our first ANNUAL, an online magazine for Hillwalkers in Ireland

This 46 page production is in .pdf format. and will continue to be available here:

Summary.
MountainViews now has 7867 comments about 1433 different hills & mountains out of the total in our current full list (1496). We want to get a good gps track showing each of the major ways up every summit in Ireland. If you see an option to add a "Short Summary" then do please consider creating one since another objective is to have a short summary for every summit in Ireland. There's a few (63) opportunities for you to be the first to comment on a summit. We also have around 1500 shared GPS tracks, mostly in Ireland. Apart from a few popular areas, there is a need for more routes in many different areas. Plain shared tracks without descriptions are welcome however if you have time then do please add route descriptions with photos.

NOTICES

Notices

If you are contributing, please be careful to respect the interests of landowners.
Suggest access routes well away from houses, gardens or that could conceivably impact farming activities. When walking, keep away from gardens or farm buildings. Use stiles or gates wherever possible. Never do anything that could allow animals to roam where the farmer did not intend. Ask permission where appropriate.

Report suspicious activity to the police forces, as below.

If your car is broken into in an upland area report it to the PSNI or Gardai as this will help them be aware of the issue and tackle it in future. Store the numbers. In Northern Ireland use the PSNI non-emergency number 0845 600 8000. In the Republic you can find the local Garda District HQs phone numbers at www.garda.ie/Stations/Default.aspx. Specifically for the hotspot of Wicklow: the Garda Divisional Headquarters in Bray is 01 6665300.

If you hear of a problem area or route, write it up in MountainViews
which does everyone a service.
Report rubbish tipping in the Republic - ring EPA hotline 1850 365 121
Report quads in national park area (in which they are banned). For Wicklow please phone the Duty Ranger: 087-9803899 or the office during office hours Telephone: +353-404-45800. Put these numbers in your phone, take regs etc. Let MV know of contact numbers for other areas.

If you have climbed some of the less well known places, we would appreciate a summit rating and also GPS readings for summits.

If we can, let's make MV have more than one route up a summit so as to reduce the tendency for paths to appear. Your grid refs in comments for different starting points show up on MountainViews maps as well as GPS tracks.

MountainViews are on Twitter as MountainViewsIE. Follow us and we will follow you back. Any queries to secretary@mountainviews.ie

Click on http://mountainviews.ie (If you have cookies on in your browser then you will be prompted as to username/ password. If you forget the password, the login page can email you a replacement.)

UNSUBSCRIBING

If you don't want to receive any further monthly newsletters from Mountain Views click on
Settings. Then change the option beside "Include on occasional mailing list" to "Do not include". Then click the "Save" button.
Alternatively let us know by email at admin -at- mountainviews.ie Include the email address you got this at or your screen-name guestuser.